House Judiciary

Tuesday, March 31, 2026·4h 52m·▶ Watch / Listen

After hours of testimony from dozens of witnesses on both sides, the committee advanced the bill to Appropriations on a narrow 6-to-5 vote.

Key Actions

·HB 26-1309 – Abuse in Cases of SeparationPassed

Controversies

Whether definitions in the bill are new or merely relocated from existing statute

Rep. Matt Soper stated 'we are making a new definition of domestic violence which will supersede the definitions that were previously in' existing statute and that the bill contained 'new definitions that are being brought into the statute that we didn't really get a full definite discussion of.' Rep. Story stated in her wrap-up: 'All those definitions already exist in statute and we just move them, we relocated them but we didn't change the definitions.'

+ 3 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“An allegation of sex assault by a parent in a custody agreement has an 80% chance of the accuser losing custody of the child because they mentioned their or tried to prove sex assault. It's about 50% if it's an allegation of domestic violence.”
Rep. Meg Froelich — Rep. Froelich was presenting statistics to the committee to explain why HB 26-1309 is needed, arguing that raising domestic violence in family court systematically harms the accuser's custody position.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Amendment L003 (good faith/sincerely held belief exemption) to Amendment L1 on HB 26-1309Failed

Yes (4)Keltie, Slaugh, Soper, one member unclear from transcript

No (6)Clifford, Espenoza, Garcia, Carter, Mr. Chair, one member unclear from transcript

HB 26-1309 as amended to the Appropriations Committee with a favorable recommendationPassed

Yes (6)Clifford, Espenoza, Garcia, Zokaie, Bacon, Mr. Chair

No (5)Flanell, Keltie, Slaugh, Soper, Carter

Unlock the full summary

Subscribe to see all key actions, controversies, quotes, and what's next.

TranscriptPreview

Welcome to order. Ms. Shipley, please call the roll. Representatives Bacon. Excused. Clifford. Excused. Espinosa. Here. Fl. Here. Garcia. Here. Kelty. Here. Slaw. Here. Soper. Here. Zai. Excused. Carter. Present. Mr. Chair. Here. Okay, members, we have one bill today. House Bill 1309 we're gonna do because there are quite a bit of witnesses, but since we only have one bill and I think people want to share their personal stories, we're gonna do three minutes instead of two minutes for testimony. And with that, let's get started. Whoever would like to begin. Rep. Story. Rep. Furlich. Rep. Story. Wow. Good morning. Just barely. Mr. Chair and members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to speak in deep support of this bill today. It's been a privilege working alongside Representative Froelich over the past few years on several pieces of incredibly important common sense legislation meant to keep children safe when going through family court. This bill is the logical next step in this process. A few years ago, a trauma informed care social worker shared with me a horrifying ProPublica investigation detailing the story of a Colorado father with a self confessed history of sexual assault and a…

Subscribe to unlock the full transcript, summary, and search across all Colorado committee hearings.